I was not surprised to find the types of questions that were on my Organic II test #1, as they were what I was anticipating (for the most part). Upon reflecting on the questions that would have been appropriate for this test, I came across a Sapling question (question #4) that I saw fitting. This question said "Imagine you are given the mass spectra of these two compounds, but the spectra are missing the compound names. Which peaks occur in one isomer but not the other? That is, which peaks could be used to distinguish one isomer from the other." I found this question to be useful because it requires me to analyze the two compounds closely, looking for fragments that one could form, but not the other. Some fragments will look quite similar, but will be slightly different in mass, therefore producing different peaks. Under time restraints, this requires me to work diligently and look for unique patterns that each compound has, and I find this skill to be useful.
-The High School Chemist
I remember that particular question from the online homework and I concur that being able to do those types of problems was very beneficial in taking the test. Not only was this problem shown in the actual test but by solving that problem in the homework it definitely helped me by making it so I could more efficiently read, make, and understand mass spectra and hopefully assumedly helped you in a similar manner. At the same time this type of question when made slightly more difficult became extremely hard due to how similar many of the spectra could be and how many different things could affect them.
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